Dirty Little Secrets
by HideBehindASmile72
Summary: Rossdale High. Just like any other high school. Relationships, sex, drugs, breakups, unplanned pregnancies...    *Inspired by Degrassi: The Next Generation, in case you can't tell.*


_Interesting story behind this one… I started it a year or so ago and thought I had lost it after our computer crashed. Long story short, I got it back from a "sent" e-mail. I plan to write each part as a sort of "episode," in the style of Degrassi. Expect a range of realistic topics to be covered from relationships to rape to drug abuse. Also, in the tradition of Degrassi: The Next Generation, the episodes will be named after song titles. Expect "Can't Stand Losing You," "Man in the Mirror," "Ace of Spades," and many other great songs to pop up as titles. Hope you enjoy this as much as I love writing them. :P_

_So it's the summer before freshman year_, a girl with horn-rimmed glasses named Rachel Delago scribbles in her rough-looking green journal. _There are less than two weeks of summer left as the leaves slowly change colors and plummet slowly to the ground in the chilly autumn-like wind. It seems summer has come and gone too fast once again as school days gradually approach us. It wouldn't be such a bad time for me….except for the fact that I've been forced to transfer schools by my workaholic parents who deemed the move "necessary to further their careers." Lakeville, (my old school) was great; don't get me wrong; to be honest though, a single year at that school changed who I am forever, and maybe not for the better. With that in mind, some things are better left unsaid. I am a firm believer that every girl is entitled to her own private secret…or two…three…maybe four. After all, everyone has their own __**dirty little secrets**__**.**_

"School shopping sucks," complains Adam Bellamy to his two best friends, Cassie Walker and Hannah Clarke on a Friday night as they walk casually through the local mall.

"Oh shut up, at least there are guys to keep us entertained!" replies Cassie as she smiles and waves at a blonde-haired guy around her age.

"And where exactly does that get me?" he says laughing.

"It gets you out of the house for a few hours," giggles Hannah.

The three of them continued to pace through the mall until Adam abruptly stops in his tracks. Hannah and Cassie look over to see him staring at something over at the music store.

"What's he drooling about now?" asks Cassie. It doesn't take her long to figure out that the object of his adoration is a new _The Police_ band T-shirt on display. Hannah points out that the shirt isn't the only thing that has his attention. Standing next to the metal section of the CD aisle is Roxanne Moore; a girl he sees every time they make a mall trip. Despite his word, Hannah and Cassie find it quite obvious that he has a huge crush on her.

"That's Adam for you," Hannah says with a soft giggle. "He always has Roxanne and music on his mind!"

"I don't even understand what's so great about her," Cassie says with a hint of disgust in her tone. "She's not even that pretty…"

"Wait," exclaims Hannah almost excitedly. "You're not jealous of Roxanne are you?"

"Of course not Hannah, he's my best guy friend!" She retorts defensively.

"Okay, okay! I understand!" Hannah quickly replies apologetically. The subject is dropped in a matter of seconds.

"Alright, let's move on," says Adam as he makes his way back toward the two girls waiting for him.

"Got enough of an eyeful of eye candy ala Roxanne?" Cassie comments with a smirk.

"Shut up! I was looking at the track list for Alice Cooper's new album!" he snaps at her.

"Sure, in the pop aisle by Lady Gaga and Madonna?" she says with an almost cocky attitude.

Seeing tension boiling between the two, (as it so often does) Hannah decides to intrude and tell them to both shut up and points out the food court a few feet away.

With their hands full of shopping bags, they head toward the food court. With her sights set on the Taco Bell straight ahead, Hannah runs straight into Neal Anderson; a guy she had had a huge crush on since Middle School. Neal bends down to pick up a few of the bags that Hannah had dropped in the collision while she apologizes desperately.

"I'm so sorry Neal! I wasn't even paying attention to where I was going! You know how I am when there are tacos near! Well, I mean…well…it's not like I eat all the time like a hog or anything but…I mean…uhm…"

"It's cool, tacos are like heaven-sent." says Neal with a surprisingly comfortable smile on his face. "I'm the one who should be sorry, I mean…it's not my fault you're so cute…" His eyes grow exponentially as it sinks in that he had just complimented Hannah so heavily. "Whoa. I got to get going!" he says in a hurry as he awkwardly glances at his watch and quickly jogs away. Before he is out of Hannah's sight, Neal turns and yells back at her, "See you in school!" as though to catch one last glimpse of her.

As Hannah walks back toward the restaurant to join the line beside Adam and Cassie, she has a huge grin spread across her face which had turned a few shades redder than it had been a minute ago.

"**We saw that," says Cassie with a smirk. All Hannah does in response is that innocent, naïve, little girl laugh-scream thing that girls do when boys are involved. **

Meanwhile across town an open house was going on at Rossdale High School. A very shy girl with horn-rimmed glasses named Rachel Delago was walking the almost deserted halls of the High School with her parents; Blake and Anne Delago. In a stereotypical High School such as Rossdale, Rachel was classified as one of the "geeks." She wasn't the most popular girl by any means, but she was definitely one of the most intelligent students to ever walk the halls of Rossdale High.

Rachel and her parents were just about to walk into the biology lab to talk to her teacher when her sister; Carly Delago came walking down the hall with her boyfriend; Cameron Morrison. Although they may have been born sisters, many people found it hard to believe that Carly and Rachel came from the same gene pool. After all, Carly was the popular beauty who every guy in school drooled over, while Rachel was a polar opposite. Needless to say, Rachel and Carly rarely got along together.

"Hey dork, excited for school already?" Carly quipped.

"Oh, ha-ha, you're so funny Carly," If you spent half as much time with a book as you do with makeup, you might actually pass a class!" Rachel snapped back.

"That's quite enough girls." grumbled their father. Can't you two get along for one whole day without getting into one of these stupid little quarrels?

"Yeah right." replied Carly and Rachel in perfect unison.

"Well anyway." started Carly. I came here to tell you that Cameron and I are ditching this dump to go to his house.

"Alright, but remember your curfew!" Anne yelled at Carly who was already halfway down the hall clearly not listening to her mother.

In the cafeteria of Rossdale, Blaze Michaels and his girlfriend Lauren Tacey were munching on the rock-hard cookies provided by the school and chatting with Danielle Miller. Blaze Michaels was the big athlete superstar at Rossdale while Danielle and Lauren were both on the cheerleading squad.

"Do these cookies come with a scheduled dentist appointment?" wisecracked Danielle as Blaze and Lauren laughed hysterically.

After the laughter had finally died down, Lauren; the blue-eyed beauty, asked in a mysterious tone of voice,

"So what do you think of that Rachel Delago girl?" Danielle, or as she was usually called, Dani, and Blaze started laughing as if Lauren had just gotten to the punch line of another joke. When Lauren continued to sit there not saying anything, Blaze and Dani were suddenly silent.

"Well, I personally think she is one of the most annoying people I have ever met in my sixteen years of life." replied Lauren.

"She is handy though when people like us have a life and don't get time to study." added Blaze grinning.

"Well I think we should give her an authentic welcome to Rossdale this fall." said Lauren with emphasis on the word "_welcome."_

I'm in!" exclaimed Blaze.

"Dani?" asked Lauren.

"What?" She asked as though she hadn't heard what Lauren had said. "Oh sure, yeah, yeah, whatever…." She mumbled with a hint of hesitation in her voice.

After Hannah had dropped off Adam and Cassie at their houses, she started to drive back to her own house. When she arrived at her own home after about ten minutes of driving, she walked into the kitchen to find her brother, Elliott, hunched over in the refrigerator his hands at the exact spot she knew her parents kept their emergency money. "Elliott?" she gasped with a shocked look on her face. El, what… what are you doing? You know that's mom and dad's emergency money!

"Shut up!" hollered Elliott. You saw nothing!

"Oh yes I did!" she retorted.

"You tell mom and dad," he started in a threatening tone, "and I'll make sure to make your life hell, and that's not a threat, it's a promise. You got it little sis?"

"And what do you intend to do if I do tell them?" Hannah questioned

"Oh don't you worry!" he said with a smirk. "I know your little secrets. I'm not stupid Hannah. It just so happens I know things about you that I'm sure mom and dad would just love to hear about their underage teenage daughter.

"No." Hannah replied knowing she had been defeated.

"Good," Elliott replied with a malicious smirk on his dirty face. "Now get out of my way and leave me alone."

As Cassie walked in the front door of her house into the kitchen, she was greeted by her mother, Cassandra.

"Hey dear, that Jessie Morrison girl called this afternoon while you were at the mall."

"Jessie?" Cassie started. What would Jessie want with me?

"I don't know, but she said to call her back." replied her mother. Cassie picked up the phone and dialed Jessie's number quickly.

"Hello?" a voice from the other side of the line greeted.

"Hi Jessie, you called?" Cassie replied.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you a question."

"Sure, what is it?" asked Cassie.

"Oh, well, it's kind of dumb…." she mumbled.

"Shoot. Tell me what it is." said Cassie.

"Well, I was wondering something about your brother Liam." she said hesitantly.

"What about him?" Cassie replied with a puzzled tone.

"Well, I don't know, but I think he's really cute….and I…." she started but was interrupted by Cassie.

"An actual girl thinks my little brother Liam is cute?" Cassie said with a tone expressing shock although she was holding back a laugh.

"Yeah, I was wondering if….I don't know. Do you think he likes me?" she said in a shy manner.

"Well…" Cassie said giggling. I really don't know. Liam and I really don't talk about stuff like that…but I suppose I could keep an eye out for you…

"Oh would you?" Jessie replied excitedly.

"Yeah, whatever," Cassie managed to say without laughing.

"Well. That's really all I wanted, so I'll talk to you in school next week, okay?"

"Alright, talk to you later." Cassie said and then hung the phone back up on the receiver. "Wow." She said to herself. That was quite annoying…and slightly pointless if you ask me. She laughed as she walked upstairs to her room so she could get on the computer to get her daily social update on the internet.

Meanwhile a cluster of teenagers were hanging out in their usual groups at The Snare, a local restaurant where most of the teen-aged population spent their Friday nights. Sitting at a table near the door by himself was Sam Anderson, who was very unlike his older brother Neal. While Neal would be classified as an athlete, Sam was a very shy and self-conscience musician. He tends to go with the flow and tries to do whatever he believes will make him fit in, while secretly hoping to someday form a rock band.

At another table towards the back of the restaurant, Jade Miller; the local attention-starved teen rebel, took a huge unladylike bite out of her hamburger. As grease from the burger dripped down all over the table, Jade yelled at the nearest waiter, "Get me some ketchup, and make it quick, I'm starving here!"

The waiter, Leon Davis, replied quickly to Jade's snappy order with a simple, "Yeah, whatever."

Leon was the son of two snooty millionaires, Gavin and Gabriella Davis. Despite his rich parents' wealth, Leon had applied for a part-time job at The Silver Snare just for a reason to escape the miserably boring home life his parents provided for him. Gavin and Gabriella were as strict with their kids as they were stuck-up towards everyone in town.

Just as Leon was taking the ketchup to the girl in the black clothes with the multi-colored hairstyle, the bell above the door rang as his brother, Miles Davis walked in the door. Despite their extreme differences, Miles and Leon usually got along pretty well. Leon was the older of the two as he was to be a junior and Miles a freshman at Rossdale.

"Hey Miles," Leon greeted as his brother walked past him.

"Hey." Miles said in return while walking toward a table where Cassie Walker's brother Liam was waiting for him. Miles had told his parents he was going to the open house at the school, which anyone who really knew him good would never happen. Miles was a straight D student just barely scraping by in his classes each year. Leon on the other hand was an A-B student who tried to put his younger brother on the right track, although rarely achieving any success in doing so.

Acne-ridden Miles sat down next to Liam in a maroon-hued booth and they began to compare their sophomore year school schedules. Leon meanwhile saw his friend's brother Sam Anderson sitting all by himself nibbling on his half-eaten order of French fries and decided to go sit down next to him and chat with him.

"Hey Sam, How's it going?" he said enthusiastically attempting to fuel a conversation between him and Sam.

"Oh, it's going." Sam replied in an unusually quiet voice.

"How are things with you this summer?" Leon said in a friendly tone.

"Well, not too bad…" he started, but Leon could plainly see that Sam's attention was directed toward someone coming in the door. It was Rachel Delago, who had just come from the school.

Leon noticed Sam was still watching Rachel as she walked to the counter to order her food, so he said to him with a smirk, "Whoa! I think Sammy boy has himself a little crush on Miss Delago!" As Sam heard Leon say this, his attention quickly snapped back to Leon as his face turned a few shades redder.

"So when you gonna make your move?" Leon asked him with a grin.

"Whoa!" Sam yelled as his face went even redder. Rachel would never like me like that, no girls ever do…

"Oh Sam," Leon started. Don't say that. I'm sure if you were just a little more social Rachel would fall for you real quick.

Sam faked a smile and whispered to Leon, "Really?"

Leon smiled again and said, "Tell you what; I'll help you get yourself a girl, I.e. Rachel.

"Yeah, and what do you want in return?" Sam said with a grim look on his face.

"Well, now that you mentioned it…" Leon started. I could use some help with Geometry…"

"Okay, it's settled then." Sam said in a final way.

Leon then proceeded to reach over to the next table to snatch Miles' glass of cola.

While ignoring Mile's yaps of complaint, Leon said to Sam, "Cheers to a new friendship!"

"….and Rachel." Sam added with a smile on his face.

A few minutes later the bell above the door rang once again as Casey Moore and her boyfriend Emmett Sullivan walked in hand-in-hand. While Casey had a huge grin spread across her face, Emmett gave off the impression that he would much rather be somewhere else.

Casey, a senior, and Emmett, a junior, had met their freshman year. Casey was a mildly popular girl and had long brunette hair with chocolate-brown eyes. She always seemed to wear her leather jacket wherever she went. Emmett on the other hand was pretty much right in the middle of the social ladder, and that suited him just fine. He had a very "I-don't-care-what-you-think-about-me" attitude, and it showed.

Casey ordered their food and they found an empty table to sit at. As they sat there waiting there for Leon to bring their food, Casey attempted to start a conversation by saying, "So Emmett, are you ready for school?" but she could tell he wasn't interested in chatting.

"Is there something wrong Emmett?" she asked. Emmett hesitated but managed to say quietly,

"Well, it's about _us_." He groaned quietly.

At this point Casey's expression of happiness had turned into a frown of shock and horror.

"What…what is it Emmett?" she stammered.

"Well..." he began. I really don't think its working. I mean, I don't feel the spark like I used to. But I promise you, it's not you it's….But Casey interrupted his sentence.

"Oh cut out the sappy romance movie break-up scene crap." You're dumping me, aren't you?

Emmett couldn't bring himself to say a simple "yes," so he just nodded his head. At this point Casey grunted in an angry tone and got up and stormed out of the restaurant slamming the door behind her. The entire restaurant was now looking at Emmett with a shocked look on their faces. Emmett blushed and got up and left just as Leon was bringing a large order of fries and a large shake for two to what used to be Casey and Emmett's table.

The following Monday the halls of Rossdale High were congested with hundreds of drained teens who had obviously not gotten enough sleep the night before. Amid the chaos of freshmen struggling to get to their classes on time, a few of the older students had made time to strike up conversations.

Cassie Walker was at her locker getting her algebra book and a pen when all of a sudden Emmett Sullivan walked nearby her locker. Cassie had had a secret crush on Emmett since freshman year but had always been too scared to talk to him. As he continued to walk down the hall, Cassie noticed he did not go right passed her, but rather was headed right toward her locker. As soon as she noticed this she snapped out her hair brush from her locker and quickly tidied up her shoulder-length red hair.

"Hey, you're Cassie, right?" he said trying to act cool.

"Yeah." she said with a big grin on her face. I heard about you and Casey, Emmett…I'm really sorry things didn't work out.

"Oh." he started in a rough tone. That doesn't bother me a bit. I was getting really sick of her to be completely honest.

"Anyway, I came over here to say hi to my good friend Cassie." he said with a smile abruptly changing the subject. How was your summer?

"Oh you know." she replied. Just hanging out with my friends, you? "

"'Bout the same." he replied with a monotone voice.

"Actually." he said hesitantly. I really didn't just come to say hi. I…well….

"What is it Emmett?" she said. You can tell me anything.

"Well…. I was wondering..." he stuttered.

"Yeah?" Cassie replied with a grin.

Cassie had a good feeling about how this conversation was going to end, but decided not to get her hopes up. She was basically standing there staring into his deep blue eyes while at the same time admiring his long, naturally curly brown hair. She was thinking to herself, "Wow. He's so cute. Ask me out already before I pass out!"

"Would you wanna maybe…catch a movie with me this Friday night?" he finally managed to sputter.

"Sure!" Cassie exclaimed with definite excitement in her voice.

"Alright!" he said now feeling on top of the world and glad he had spit it out. So I'll pick you up around eight?

"Sounds awesome!" she said practically bursting with excitement.

"Alright, I'll see you Friday night then!" he said with a grin now on his face as he walked away toward his history class.

At the same time that Cassie and Emmett were making Friday night plans, more excitement was occurring down in the sophomore hall. Apart from the usual, "Hey! How was your summer?" conversations going on, more serious discussions were also taking place. Among these were Danielle Miller and her friend Jessie Morrison.

"So did you talk to Liam yet?" asked Danielle with anticipation in her voice.

"Of course not!" Jessie replied in a whisper.

"Well, you're no fun!" replied Danielle giggling.

"Well, what do you expect!" Jessie said in an unusually loud tone.

"I expected you to actually take the courage to at least talk to him and get to know him this summer!" she snapped back grinning.

Just as Jessie was about to say something back, Lauren walked by with her boyfriend Blaze and they motioned for Danielle to go with them. Danielle hugged Jessie and they exchanged good byes and then joined her friends from the other half of the Rossdale popularity spectrum.

Rossdale High was a very stereotypical school in terms of the types of student who went there. Everyone was judged as popular or unpopular based on silly things such as appearance or hobbies. If you were an athlete, jock, or cheerleader, your popularity was assured. Intelligence seemed to be deemed an unpleasant quality as anyone who got good grades were known as "geeks," "nerds," or "goody-goodies." People classified in any of the three groups were basically items used by the people higher on the social ladder. In other words, they were cheated off of so the jocks could secure their spot on the football field every Friday night.

A selected few managed to secure a place smack dab in the middle of this social ladder. Danielle, for one was mostly associated with the popular group, but also hung out with a few chosen other people. She was known as a lesser of the evil that was the self-declared popular group. She actually managed to treat everyone with respect despite their individual ridiculous labels, no matter what they may have been.

Just a few minutes before the bell starting the school day was about to ring, the big doors of Rossdale High opened and in walked Hannah and her brother Elliott. Since Hannah had gotten her license, she had been involuntarily given the responsibility of driving her brother to school each morning. Elliott had lost his license midway through his junior year for reasons no one but Elliott, Hannah, and their parents; Spencer and Charlotte Clarke knew for sure. When questioned why Elliott had lost his license, the members of the Clarke family would respond with a story about how a series of below-average report cards led him to lose driving privileges. They seemed confident in their story, although no one else one-hundred percent believed them.

As the first bell rang signaling the students to head toward their first class of the school day, Hannah joined her two best friends Adam and Cassie on their way to History. Hannah looked like she had had a very stressful morning, as her hair was somewhat messy and she had passed on make-up.

"What's up, how come you were so late?" Cassie questioned.

"Horrible morning!" Hannah replied with a groan. I'll tell you all about it at lunch she said with a frown. All I have to say right now is that I am definitely sick of Elliott at this point. Adam and Cassie looked at each other and exchanged looks of confusion and uncertainty as Hannah walked in the history room first with them close behind.

In another part of Rossdale, students were filing into first hour biology. Biology was generally a sophomore class, but some juniors had failed the class their previous year and had to take it for another whole year. Among these juniors were Lauren Tacey and Blaze Michaels.

As everyone walked into the classroom, the teacher gave everyone their assigned seats. Blaze was to sit behind Liam Walker, while Lauren was supposed to sit behind Sam Anderson. Other sophomores in the class included Miles Davis, Jessie Morrison, Rachel Delago, and Danielle Miller.

As the teacher took attendance, Liam looked behind him and whispered to Blaze,

"So you actually gonna pass this year Mr. Football-comes-before-everything-else?"

"Oh shut up!" Blaze yelled back. You only wish you could be the star player at Rossdale like I am! Liam proceeded to laugh at hearing this as if Blaze had said something mildly amusing.

"I wouldn't be head of the football team if you paid me." I'd rather be mildly smart rather than kick a ball around a field any day. But I suppose with athletic ability comes a price, which in this case is your brain!

"At least I have a girlfriend and a life you little punk!" he retorted back. You don't think I have to keep my grades up to be where I am in sports?

"No, I don't." he replied calmly with a grin on his face. I know the athletic code. You can fail a minimum of two classes and still be eligible. So you only have to really pass four classes? What a flaw in the system. Liam started to get looks from Jessie and Miles who were sitting a desk over. "Nothing to see here!" he told them with his face flushed a slight color of red. He couldn't believe he had just told off the star of the football team.

Meanwhile a group of juniors and seniors were in their Algebra class on the other side of the school. Leon Davis, Neal Anderson, and Emmett Sullivan were amongst the juniors in the class. Cameron Morrison, Carly Delago, Elliott Clark, Casey Moore, and Jade Miller, all seniors, were also in this Junior-dominated class as they had just gotten to this level of math.

The students took their seats and waited for class to start while Leon, Neal, and Casey struck up a quick conversation.

Neal started by saying, "I heard about you and Emmett this summer Casey, I'm sorry."

"Oh thanks." she replied as though she really could care less about the discussion at all. Leon attempted to disturb the awkward silence by asking Neal if he had any girls over the summer.

"No." he replied glumly. You?

Leon also replied with a simple "no." and then proceeded to ask Neal if he had his eyes on anyone in particular.

"Yeah, actually I do." he replied in a somewhat relaxed tone.

"Who?" Leon asked with anticipation.

"Well, she's in our grade and I think she's really cute." he replied sounding somewhat embarrassed.

"Whoa." Leon gasped suddenly. You said she was cute!

"Yeah…so…?" Neal responded obviously oblivious as to what Leon was trying to imply.

"Well that means you've crossed the border between "hot" and "cute" with this mystery chick. You really like her don't you?

"Well, yeah…I suppose so." Neal said with slight hesitation.

"Just tell us who it is already!" Casey grunted suddenly deciding to rejoin the conversation.

"Well, it's Hannah Clarke." Neal finally said with a semi-grin on his face.

"Oh." Casey and Leon both replied in unison.

"So when you gonna ask her out?" Casey said smiling.

"I don't know!" Neal groaned. But I'm pretty sure she likes me too.

"Well stop wasting time!" grumbled Leon. Shut up about it and ask her out.

"Whatever." he said with a grin spread across his perfectly toned face.

"Can you believe we're in this stupid junior class?" Carly whined to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get out of High School." he replied. School sucks.

"Imagine life after high school," Carly started. You and I going off to the same college, maybe moving in together...

At this point in Carly's sentence, Cameron interrupted her.

"Wait a minute, same college? Moving in? Don't you think you're kind of pushing things?"

"Excuse me?" Carly replied with a hint of frustration and confusion.

"Well you know we're not married or anything... and it is college after all..."

Carly's smile was quickly fading as she said, "So what are you saying, we have no future?"

"All I'm saying," he started, is that we're growing up now and are leaving for college in a few months and well, who knows what's going to happen honestly?

Carly was now frowning and didn't know what to say, so she turned around in her desk to face the front of the classroom.

As the bell rings signaling the end of first period, the hallways are once again crammed as students flood out of their classes. Amid the chaos that has suddenly ensued, people begin to slowly gather into their social groups for a quick conversation before second hour classes. Rather than catch up with Jessie to discuss their first class, Danielle decides to meet up with Lauren and Blaze to discuss their little scheme.

"So I was thinking," Lauren says as Danielle falls into step with them, "what if we completely humiliate her in front of the whole school?" She waits for their reaction with a proud grin.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Blaze replies with a confused look.

"Oh my God, seriously Blaze?" she replies. "I'm talking about Carly's stupid little sister, remember; the open house?"

"You were serious about that?" he answers. "I didn't really think you wanted to really do anything to her…"

"Why the hell not?" she retorts, frustrated. "Everyone hates her, so we might as well make her suffer for our entertainment!"

"That's harsh Lauren…" Danielle adds distantly. "You barely even know this chick. Why are you so quick to judge her?"

"Because she deserves it!" Lauren says, almost hollering. "You've heard what Carly says about her, so why are you bailing on me now?"

"Because any idea you concoct up to potentially ruin her already pitiful high school reputation will more than likely be cruel and unnecessary!" Danielle counters defensively. "I'll have no part in your little scheme, especially since I'm sure you have no intention of following school rules, or the law even!"

"Do you remember yourself from last year?" Lauren asks Danielle seemingly changing the subject. "I seem to recall that you were an absolute _loser _who hung with the likes of people like Rachel! "You would still be a nobody if it weren't for me!" This sudden outburst seems to silence Danielle as she mutters,

"Fine, I'll do it."

A few hours later, the school cafeteria is flooded with students rushing through the line to get their food in order to discuss the morning's classes. As Cassie walks by the line in her typical attire, (jeans and a band tee) she sneers in disgust at Blaze who is pushing underclassmen out of his and Carly's way.

Cassie isn't exactly the kind of girl to strain herself to blend in with the crowd. She's seemingly content with herself and her status within and outside the halls of Rossdale. Finally, she reaches the table in the corner where she sits with Adam and Hannah on a daily basis. She sits down in one of the rusty blue chairs at the table and munches on a sandwich as she waits for her friends to arrive.

It's not long until Cassie spots Adam among the horde of people at the salad bar. Surprisingly, she realizes what band shirt he's wearing and wonders why she hadn't noticed earlier when she had met him in the hall. Something about him seems different today, something that makes him stand out from the other people in the crowd…

"Wipe the drool off your jaw," Hannah remarks as she takes a seat next to her best friend.

"What the hell ever…" groans Cassie as she suddenly takes an intense interest in the apple she had packed. "Let it go already Hannah, he's not my type."

"Keep telling yourself that," Hannah says as she rolls her eyes. "I think you're trying to convince yourself of that more than anyone else."

"Convincing herself of what?" Adam asks as he takes a seat between the two and takes a huge bite of a chicken sandwich.

"Nothing, mind your own damn business!" Cassie snaps as she turns her attention to someone else who had just sat down. In response, Adam turns his attention to Hannah who shrugs her shoulders in defense of her friend, as she so often did. In order to move on, she attempts to change the subject by talking about her morning, as she had promised to explain. Cassie had already swapped seats in order to keep a conversation with another guy she had gotten to sit at their table. Neither Hannah nor Adam recognized the table's new guest.

"Elliott is getting on my last nerve," Hannah remarks as she stabs her macaroni and cheese. "Thanks to him we were almost late this morning…"

"Why, what happened?" Adam asks with genuine concern.

"You didn't hear this from me, right?" Hannah whispers as she nervously glances around the lunchroom.

"Of course not," Adam says with a grin. "You know you can trust me…"

"Well, Elliott has been stealing money from our mom and dad right under their noses," she murmurs almost inaudibly. "Mom noticed that thirty dollars were missing this morning and decided to give us a lecture about responsibility. She kept telling us that if we're having money problems, we should just talk to her."

"Well that was mildly anticlimactic," Adam smirks with a sarcastic grin. "I thought he killed someone or got some chick knocked up or something…"

"Oh my God, dad would kill him!" Hannah says almost anxiously. "That's not all though," she adds. "He's been threatening and blackmailing me into keeping his theft a secret. He knows some…things about me that I'd rather mom and dad stayed in the dark about…"

"Imagine that, our good girl Hannah has her self some dirty little secrets and some legit drama in her life!" Adam says attempting to brighten her mood, if only a little.

"Yeah," she replies with a stifled laugh and a half smile.

A few days later, as everyone is finally settled into their classes, a selection of students is called down to the principal's office during fourth hour classes. Earlier in the week, the entire student body was handed a ballot in order to cast their vote for student council representatives. As usual, very few took the election very seriously and simply voted for the one they liked the most.

"I didn't know you were even running," says Emmett to Adam as they pass a history class on their way to the office. "Good luck, I guess."

"Cassie? Really?" Adam remarks without attention to what Emmett had just said. "You know that won't end well, right?"

"Not that it's any of your damn business, but yes; we went out a couple weeks ago and it was a great night!" Emmett snaps back. "Just because you're her friend doesn't mean you know what she's like with guys Adam…"

"Oh trust me; I do know what she's like. She's not who you think she is; Hannah and I both have learned that the hard way." Adam retorts, his blood starting to boil.

"Then why the hell are you all still best friends then, Adam? Huh? Tell me that!" Emmett responds defensively. "You act like you're the three amigos or something but here you are talking trash behind her back, as usual. What kind of friend does that make _you_ then Adam?"

"Whatever." Adam replies angrily as he picks up his pace to escape Emmett.

Minutes later, Adam and Emmett and eight other people are grouped in the office to hear the results of the election. Neither Adam nor Emmett meet each other's gaze as they stand on opposite sides of the room. Upon scanning his surroundings, Adam is shocked to see Roxanne Moore standing by a desk chatting with Jessie Morrison. He feels oddly self-conscious and awkwardly brushes his hair with his hand. White Jessie continues to chatter away, Roxanne quickly turns her head and grins at Adam. Realizing that her smile has made him blush, Adam panics, drops his head down and takes interest in the ugly, multi-colored carpet beneath him.

"Congratulations to all of you for even entering the running for representatives," the principal says hurriedly as he takes a seat at his desk. "I have more things to do than I have time for, so let's get this over with quick.

Adam doesn't seem to really care who gets representatives, and is only concerned about his reign as president. Apparently, the competition comes down to Emmett, Roxanne, and him. While he would rather give the position to Roxanne, he wants nothing more than to crush Emmett. When the time comes to announce the new president, Adam can't help but steal glances in Roxanne's direction to see her reaction.

"Adam Bellamy, congratulations…" the principal announces unenthusiastically. The moment didn't quite live up to Adam's expectations of excitement and joy, but he'll take the position anyway.

As he makes his way back to English class a few minutes later, Adam feels a sudden boost of self-confidence and arrogance all at once, but knows it more than likely won't last.

That night, Cameron calls Carly in order to apologize for the way he said things in algebra on the first day of classes. He feels the need to explain exactly what he meant, and hopes she doesn't take things the wrong way again. Rather than have the discussion over the phone, he invites her to The Snare for dinner on him.

"Hey Leon," Cameron greets Leon as he walks into the restaurant. "Carly here yet?"

"No, I haven't seen her. Hot date tonight?" Leon asks arrogantly.

"Nah, remember the first day of algebra?" Cameron asks with a sigh.

"Yeah, who the hell ever thought of algorithms?" Leon replies with the intent of confusing and annoying Cameron.

"Algo-what the hells?" Cameron asks with a dazed look.

"Never mind…" Leon says with a chuckle. "Trouble in paradise that day between you two I'm assuming? You can't lose her; she's one of the hottest girls at school! Not so bright really, but…" he mumbles.

"Yeah, she hasn't talked to me since then." Cameron answers desolately. "She has this vision of us going to the same college and living together right out of high school. She's so set in that image that she doesn't realize that we're only seventeen! I pretty much told her to back the truck up, and she got pissed at me and assumed that I meant we had no future! Excuse me for not wanting to settle down straight outta high school!"

"Hmm, quite the predicament," Leon mutters, only partially interested. "Well, good luck with that one!" Leon smiles at Cameron and turns on his heel toward the kitchen. Before he gets through the swiveling door, he hears the bell above the door ring and assumes that Carly has entered the building.

"What do you want?" Carly groans as she throws herself onto the booth seat across from Cameron. "This better be important!"

"I miss you," Cameron answers with a grin. "I wanted to apologize for the crap I said in algebra the other day. Before you just get up and leave though, we need to talk."

"Great," Carly mumbles as she rolls her eyes. "You called me down here to officially dump me, didn't you?"

"Of course not!" he exclaims, almost surprised by her reaction. "I like you a lot and want to be with you, but we need to sort some things out first. Honestly, that image that you have in your head about _us_ after graduation is kind of unrealistic, don't you think?"

"Oh of course, how silly of me to think my dear boyfriend would want to be with me after high school…" Carly answers sarcastically.

"Carly, do you even realize what you're expecting of us?" Cameron says as he takes her hand in his. "You think that college won't be any different from our lives now, and really, you act like we need to get married, settle down, have kids, and live the white picket fence life right away!"

"Wow Cameron, really? You sound absolutely ridiculous!" Carly says through gritted teeth. "I don't expect a diamond right away; I just want us to be together!"

"Carly, college is supposed to be fun and wild!" Cameron answers, getting frustrated. "How the hell am I supposed to be outgoing and have a good time if I have you always bringing me down and telling me what to do as if we were a married couple?"

"Well I'm sorry that I cramp your style, Cameron!" Carly bellows as she hastily jumps up from the booth. Leon walks by their table with a smile on his face that wasn't for customer purposes. Carly sees him carrying a tray and swipes a milkshake off of it.

"I hope you have fun at university with all those skanks!" she hollers as she tosses the milkshake in his face. Without waiting for his reaction, she turns and hurries toward the exit before stopping in front of the door. "We're done, so stay away from me!" she hollers over her shoulder. Cameron sits in disbelief as the freezing cold milkshake drips all over the floor and he suddenly feels incredibly cold and alone.

Friday morning before school, Adam calls a student council meeting in order to discuss fundraising ideas. Half asleep, the representatives stumble into the library in order to get the meeting over with. As Roxanne, Emmett, Rachel, and a few other students plop down into the unaccommodating wooden chairs, Adam greets them all and begins the meeting.

"Morning," he says, surprisingly awake. "Just wanted to get together to discuss what we could do in the next few weeks to raise money for charity or school, or… whatever. He takes a swig of coffee as the other members groan.

"Why so early?" a guy Adam recognizes as a sophomore growls.

"This is the only time we can get together when we aren't all busy!" Adam answers, irritated. "Well, it's also the only time they'll let us use the library…but that's okay…I guess…"

"Shut up and talk business so we can get out of here…" mumbles Emmett before yawning with a stretch. "The sooner we get done here, the sooner I can curl up on that mighty beautiful couch over there…"

"Anyway," Adam begins. "I was thinking we'd do like, chocolate sales or something? You know how those old people love-"

"That's lame, let's have a dance," interrupts Roxanne groggily. "It could be a fall, welcome back to school soiree or something…" Suddenly the room is more alive as the other students begin to chatter about the idea.

"That's a pretty good idea," says Adam. "Anyone else?"

"No, we're having a dance," declares Emmett. "Meeting adjourned, adios!" He gets to his feet and stumbles over to the couch across the library to sleep a bit before the bell rings. Taking Emmett's lead, the underclassmen leave their seats and start to file out the door and into the hallway. Adam is pleasantly surprised when Roxanne not only stays with him, but moves over a few seats until she's sitting across the table from him.

"Let's get planning!" she says excitedly. "I'm thinking it should be entirely autumn themed, and we can ask Jessie's cousin to DJ. We'll charge like, six bucks for tickets so we can at least make a little money to end world hunger… Ooh! We could even do Sadie Hawkins or something!"

While Roxanne eagerly shouts out her ideas, Adam hears nothing but chatter from her as he watches her lips move and her blue eyes shimmer from the dull light overhead. He is awestruck by her beauty and wants nothing more than to silence her by introducing his lips to hers in a passionate, explosive kiss. Seeing no better time than now, he leans across the table and takes the plunge. As soon as Roxanne realizes his intent, she turns her head sideways and his chapped lips meet the side of her face. Adam chuckles nervously as he picks up his bag and proceeds to speedily saunter over to the door. Before he leaves the library, Roxanne orders him to come back to the table.

_Crap!_ He thinks to himself as he closes his eyes and tilts his head to the ceiling. Hoping to rip the band-aid off as soon as humanly possible, he turns around and makes his way back to the corner of the room by the non-fiction section.

"It's okay Adam," she reassures him with an encouraging smile. "You're a pretty cool guy!"

"…But you're not in to me…" he says with a sigh to finish her sentence. "I'm really sorry; I shouldn't have done that… I'm…an idiot! I don't know what I was-"

"My God, shut up!" she grumbles, cutting his ramblings short. "I already told you its fine, didn't I? It's not that it was horrible or disgusting or anything, I just don't feel the same way as you do… I don't know you well enough or anything…"

"Yeah, I am sorry though…" she replies, clearly disappointed. "I'll…see you later then?"

"Yeah, we should get together this weekend to actually map out this dance and such," she answers, hoping to raise his spirits again.

"Are you asking me out on a… _date_? He challenges slyly.

"Is that what they call student council meetings these days?" she replies with a giggle. "We need to get everyone together to talk details and everything, Emmett included!"

Embarrassed by both his misinterpretation and her mention of Emmett, Adam manages to stutter, "Uhm, yeah… him too. You know about our little scuffle the other day?"

"Well yeah, I was there when it happened," she says with a snigger. "Poor Cassie… stuck between two guys who are both madly in love with her. _Boys_… she mumbles as she rolls her eyes.

"I _so_ do not love Cassie!" hollers Adam.

_I love __**you**__! _He wanted to scream. _I love __**you**__, so why don't you love __**me**__?_

The week after it had been decided that there would be a fall dance, the school was buzzing with excitement. Emmett and Cassie laughed together as they saw people scramble to secure dates as though the dance was the most important event of their high school career. They had decided that there was something between them, and word flew around the school that they were an item. They announced that they were officially a couple a few weeks before the dance was scheduled for, much to Adam's annoyance.

"Should we even go to the dance?" Cassie asks Emmett with a smile.

"Well yeah, we've got to show off _us_!" he says as he puts his arm around her shoulder. "Will you go to the dance with me, my fair lady?"

Cassie laughs and playfully smacks his shoulder. "Of course, you big goof, but only if you buy me a great big, beautiful, and expensive corsage!"

"Expensive? I don't care so much for that word," he replies. "How much do you expect a guy to earn for minimum wage?"

"I don't know… twenty bucks an hour?" she answers.

"You're so cute when you pretend to be naïve!" he says before stooping down to her level and kissing her. "Anyway, what time should I pick you up?"

"Well," she begins, "we'll have to make dinner reservations for that one place downtown…and maybe we'll go to a movie beforehand…what time does the dance start anyway?"

"Seven," Emmett answers while attempting to figure out if she's serious or not. "A movie? Really? Who does all that before a plain old high school dance?"

"Well, you want nothing but the best for your girl, right?" Cassie responds sweetly.

"Of course, but Cassie…"

"I'll call the restaurant tonight," she interjects. "I'm sure there'll still be a few tables open, right? They can't possibly be full two weeks ahead of time, right?"

"Cassie, that restaurant is the most expensive place in town!" he says incredulously. "How can you possibly expect me to afford our meals? And then you expect me to take you to a movie? Eight dollar tickets…arm and a leg popcorn…"

Before he can finish, Cassie puts her arms around his neck and pulls him toward her for a quick peck on the lips. "Nothing but the best for your girl! I know you'll find a way!" Rather than continue to argue, Emmett nods his head slowly and watches her disappear around the corner on her way to her next class.

"Hey Hannah, wait up!" Neal hollers across the hallway. The bell had just rung, so the halls were once again congested with restless teenagers excited to leave school for the day.

"Oh hey Neal, what's up?" she asks as she slows her pace to let him catch up.

"Oh, not much; how was your day?" he asks her calmly. "I heard that chemistry test was killer today…"

"Yeah, I think I passed though," she responds with a grin. "Surprising really, considering Elliott's distractions last night while I was trying to study…" She rolls her eyes and the smile fades from her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he says, relieved at how smooth the small talk was working. "What's up with him anyway?"

"He had a girl over last night again," she answers with a sigh. "You know that Jade Miller chick; the senior that wears all black and has blue and green in her hair?"

"Yeah," Neal replies with a nod. "Dani's sister. Talk about opposites… What was your brother doing with Jade anyway?"

"I think it's safe to assume they weren't studying algebra…" Hannah answers with a giggle. "I was in the kitchen table attempting to memorize some stupid formulas while they blasted some idiotic MTV show in the living room. They kept making out until they finally got up and went upstairs to his room; thank God!" Neal laughs and tries to think of something to say that would make him sound humorous and understanding at the same time. When nothing came to mind, he decided to play it much safer.

"So what do you think of Emmett and Cassie going to the dance as an official couple?" he asks, thinking more small talk was his best option.

"They... They're dating now?" Hannah replies, clearly taken aback. "Those two are like, legit a _thing_? She couldn't even tell me…?" A frown abruptly replaces her smile as she looks around her, deep in thought.

_Well I screwed that up!_ Neal thinks to himself. _Who would have thought that talking about a girl's best friend would hit a sore spot? Things can't get worse now though, I might as well just go for it…_

"Did you want to maybe…go to the dance with me?" he asks hesitantly. "You don't have to or anything, I just thought that maybe, well, I don't know… it seems like there's something between us and…"

"What?" Hannah yells across the hall.

_Wow._ Neal thought._ She didn't even hear me over the noise in the hall…_Thinking he won't be able to ask her verbally as they have now been separated by the crowd, he uses hand motions.

"I have no idea what you're trying to say…" she hollers with her hands cupped around her mouth.

"I WANT TO TAKE YOU TO THE DANCE!" Neal screams out of frustration. He doesn't quite realize just how loud he had yelled until a few people around him stop and give him an odd look.

"Sounds awesome!" she replies with a huge smile before she's out the door. "She waves at him quickly and yells, "See you tomorrow!" The few underclassmen that had paused upon hearing Neal holler pat him on the back and congratulate him.

Neal takes a deep breath before whispering with a grin, "Well that was a lot easier than I thought it would be!"

"Do you seriously want to go through with this?" Blaze asks with a raised eyebrow before taking a sip of his milkshake. "Pranks are seriously juvenile, even if I would love to see the look on her face…"

"Calm down Blaze, I'm not going to _kill _her or anything!" Lauren answers; annoyed. "All I plan to do is pull a harmless, safe, practical joke on her. If you can't man up and just agree to do something for me, Dani, Carly, and I can do this alone!"

This seems to bruise Blaze's ego as he gives in and simply says, "Whatever, what do you want to do to her anyway?"

"Well, I have an idea in mind," she says with a smirk. "It might be a bit risky, but if we pull it off it'll be the greatest thing to ever happen at a Rossdale dance! I don't want to think about the months of being grounded my parents would give me if they found out…"

"Lauren, you're seriously starting to scare the hell out of me!" he hollers with a deadly stern face. "Just tell me what you want to do to her that's _that_ bad!"

"Chill Blaze, seriously," she replies with a grin. "Nothing's going to happen to us. Nothing will go wrong because I've got everything all planned out. You'll be the one who actually sets the plan into motion, actually."

"Alright," he says; oddly reassured. "I'm up for just about anything I suppose. Just as long as it's legal or whatever…"

"Well…" she replies hesitantly.

"Oh my God Lauren, really?" he says with clenched fists. "You've got to be kidding me! You want to break the law just for some stupid little trick? Have you lost your damn mind?"

"I told you already!" she says, "It's not as bad as it sounds! It's only illegal if we…I mean _you_ get caught, which you won't! Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you're planning a joke on someone who you hardly know just for Carly's amusement!" he answers edgily. "You and I both know that you wouldn't be doing this unless she asked you! I can't believe you would stoop this low! What's in it for you anyway?"

"So what if she asked me to?" she says, annoyed. "What are friends for?" As she finishes her sentence, she reaches over to grab her purse from the booth beside her. She slowly unzips it while keeping watch around her.

"Why so ninja?" Blaze questions, raising his brow.

"Because of this," she answers with a whisper. Blaze slowly leans in to see the contents of her purse. He is shocked to see a small green bottle with _Absolut_ written in black marker across a strip of tape.

"Oh my God! Where did you get that?" he hollers.

"Shut up you idiot!" she scolds him. "My parents have so much in their alcohol cupboard that they won't even notice it's gone!"


End file.
